The Dallas daily herald. [volume] (Dallas, Tex.) 1873-1887, 1887-06-25
RIDDLED BY BULLETS.
COL. HUGHES COMPLETELY
DEMOLISHED BY N. A. Il.
"Survival Of tho Fittest" Theory
Graphically Illustrated.
To the Herald.

ABILENE, June 51,-l have just read
Col. WE. Hughes speech against pro-
hibition delivered lately in Dallas. 1t
is an entertaining speech, and shows
that the author to BIO thoughtful
man aud well polished intellectual
blade. 1t is the only speech that /
have read without having my respect
for the author diminished. In othcr
speeches for that side, though 1 have
not read many of them, I have found
offensive matter and manner quite
abundant. On the contary ! rise from
reading Col. Hughes speech with much
respect for him.
But he expresses ono sentiment
which is entirely shocking to me, and
is unworthy of him. 1t is also the
central idea Of his speech. 1t Is this !:
THAT all men who drink to excess are
by nature either scoundrels or fools,
who, drunk or sober are threat to
society; and that the best thing as re-
CARDS them and the public'is thai they
be let alone to be killed with whisky
as soon as possible" If it is right for
the whisky seller to kill them with
his drugs, it is right for anybody else
to kill them in any other way as if
they were mad-dogs.
The plain instruction of this doct-
rine is that to kill these unfortunate
men, to murder them; is virtue anu
public duty. The doctrine is as
wrong in fact as ii is terrible in NOR
ala. Ny observation teaches me that
the most of men who drink too much
are not b. nature scoundrels or fools.
On the contrary, | have perceived
multitudes of them to be large-heart-
cd men, full of sociabllity and charity
In most cases it seems
to me that it is the
preponderance of the said in
stinci that leads them to tippling. The
nervous organization of such men we
may suppose to be highly sensitive
and sympathetic, but by no means un-
healthily so. Before they are aware OF
il their sociability has fixed upon
them the deadly habit; demon has
got them by the nerve centers, and
too many Of them are utterly lost il
left to themselves. On the other hand
he who is by nature scoundrel is al
most always cold-blooded, unsocial,
selfish dog, with an unresponsivc, I'M
sympathetic nerve system. If he be.
comes social, it is not by nature, but
by way of business. When he plungcs
his knife into the heart of his victim
or demands your money at the muzzle
of pistol, or plans your ruin in secret
he has no liquor in him to cloud his
cold, calculating reason or make his
muscles unsteady. Such is tho typi-.
cal villain. Such are murderers, cheats
THE vel, pickpockets and swindlers, and
tor the most part, the givers of brides
and the takers of brides. Such peo-
pie have no "sickly seniimentaiity.'
You will rarely indeed, find one ofthat
sort much given 10 liquor. Does not
common experience teach us that this
is so?
Yet such is the nature Of strong
drink that it will at last embrute any
one. 1t Is a peaceful leveller. 1t will
bring the eagle down to the buzzard,
and make him the associate of such as
will puke all over him.
Again, far from being naturally
fools, these drinking, sociable men
are very often plumed with noble in.
tellect. l have known scores and
scores of such. Who is there without
knowledge of many such ?:.Beloved for
the ingenerous qualities, admired for
their genius, how many haye we seen
snatched away from the world In the
midst Of their prime
And do not broken hearts
yet linger around the marble
shafts that mark the last resting places
of many Of thesel The thought Of
those Borrowing and broken hearts is
that he would still have
been with them in all his
pride Of strength had It not been for
a.. h..-.so.. dornon No onc snreads